Hi Dollies!

I recently watched the Romantic Science-Fiction Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s one of my texts I’m studying for school and I think it’s my new favorite movie! The plot goes: an soft-spoken man, Joel Barish, meets free-spirited Clementine Kruczynski and are strangely drawn to each other. It turns out they’ve had a romantic history which ended poorly and drove Clementine to erase Joel from her memory. Joel finds out and decides to do the same, but during the course of the movie as he watches his memories fade away, he realizes he still loves her. 

As I’m watching and researching, there are so many subtle themes and messages scattered throughout the movie, and the producers love to play with foreshadowing, so much so that every time you watch, you pick up many new references and it’s always such an adventure.

My favorite part is his exploration of human nature. You can find the beautiful poem by Alexander Pope that the title is based off of in my presentation.

I love the discovery that we crave what is innocent and spotless, because often this unawareness is blissful, and we subconsciously forget what’s already right in front of us. But is this true happiness, or just escapism? One of the critics I listened to also made a very thoughtful point, perfectly illustrating the relationship between Romanticism and SF: ‘The reason we think so much is that we feel so deeply.’

As much as I’d like to recommend this film to everyone here, it’s actually rated R (eek, I know) for frequent expletives and subtle references to adult themes. So, if you’re older than me, feel free to check it out, but to the young dollies, if you really want to see it, speak to your parents or wait until you’re older!

Take care,

♡ Joanne